SERVICE QUALITY GAP: A STUDY OF AN ENGINEERING COLLEGES PART-TIME FACULTY PERSPECTIVE

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the service quality perceptions and expectations of part time engineering college faculty members teaching in selected engineering colleges in Delhi, India. This study also gives suggestions to maintain or improve part time faculty members’ satisfaction level.

Design/methodology/approach
A gap analysis based on a modified SERVQUAL instrument was used on 115 part time faculty members who were selected based on convenience sampling of the engineering colleges in Delhi. A questionnaire on five point “Very Satisfied, Satisfied, Neutral, Dissatisfied, Very dissatisfied” following the modified SERVQUAL instrument, was developed. A personally administered questionnaire was used to collect the data for this study. All part time engineering faculty members in the engineering colleges of Delhi constituted the population of this study. The collected data were entered in SPSS 16 and were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods Mean and Standard Deviation.

Findings
The mean and standard deviation for the various dimensions/constructs was calculated. This study says- (a) -The rules and regulation should be fairer and firmed for part time faculty members. (b) Individualized attention should be given to part time faculty members. (c) There should be better facility and equipments. (c) Classroom management and classroom procedure should be enhanced. (d) There should be Information sharing and Politeness in the organization. (e) The policies should be clearly specified in the organization for part time faculty members.

Practical implications
This research would be beneficial for top management by getting the expectations and perceptions of part time faculty members. With the findings from the study they can design a quality system for part time faculty members.

Originality/value
Most studies on service quality at engineering institutions tend to concentrate on the regular faculty members, undergraduate students and post graduate students. As the part time faculty members segment is more lucrative so research on this segment is needed.